Rock N Roll Experience - Lynam Interview

When I got the advance from the band Lynam for their new "Slave to the Machine" CD, I listened to it 2 times all the way through & by the 2nd listen, I immediatly "got" what the band was all about..they blend the fun of the hair metal stuff with modern sounding rock, & the band is quite addictive really, if you give them a chance & listen to their cd's or see them play live!

I had the opportunity to conduct an in-person interview with singer/guitarist Jacob Lynam onboard their bus, & to set things up for you, the bus was crowded with members of the local band Plunge, various family members, & friends, & it was a very interesting interview for sure! Jacob reminds me of Jessie Camp, the former MTV VJ who was really flashy & glammy & skinny & definitley stood out in a crowd! Jacob is an interesting guy who's very sincere, warm, & down to earth, & he likes to kid around alot, so remember that as you read this interview! I was later invited to have dinner with Plunge & Jacob & co., but I kinda disappeared..sorry for that guys! Anyways, here's the interview with Jacob Lynam:

Rock N Roll Experience: Have you jammed with Hinder or 18Vision on this tour?"

Jacob: I soundcheck for Hinder everynight for Austin the singer

Rock N Roll Experience: What do you usually jam on?

Jacob: Mostly "Lips of an Angel" I guess

Rock N Roll Experience: Who came up with that story about Ronnie James Dio & Stevie Nicks being your parents?

Jacob: I did, because every band, their bio reads the exact same..hailing from whatever town they are from & it reads the same, it puts everyone to sleep. What happens, is when you get signed, the label gets the same guy from Rolling Stone or something to call you, interview you, write the bio, freelance, & then send it in & that's why every bio reads the exact same & we just wanted to do something a little different. We've gotten in alot of trouble from that bio because people actually believed it, even though I ended it with our dad is currently in middle earth slaying dragons...people still believed it! We were actually in Maine & we played a festival & it turns out the only reason the promotor booked us was because he thought we were Stevie Nicks kids & when he found out that we weren't, because somebody asked, "Well what is your Mom like?" & I was like, My Mom, she's great & in Alabama, & he goes, no, isn't Stevie Nicks your Mom? & I went No, that was a joke & anyways, that got told to the promotor & the promotor was absoutely livid, because as it turned out, for the past month he had been promoting, "Come see Stevie Nicks Kid!" at the festival, so...

Rock N Roll Experience: ha ha, but you even made a comment in that bio too that you were dating the chick from the Dixie Chix & no one caught onto that?

Jacob: No one caught onto it...it's amazing! Like, the intelligent people know, but, yeah, it's amazing, so..

Rock N Roll Experience: Do you really hate your generation?

Jacob: Yeah.

Rock N Roll Experience: Is it the emo kids or what?

Jacob: It's the emo kids, & most people my age don't remember a band before Nirvana or something, so it's like, there's alot more to music than just looking like you just finished mowing the grass & getting onstage, like if you watch VH-1 classics..all those hair metal bands & stuff like that..it's people who used to go to concerts to forget about all the problems of the world & forget about reality for a little while & have a good time & they put on a show & that's what it was like & now it seems like with emo & like starting back with grunge, & don't get me wrong, I love Nirvana, but it started with grunge, & then the emo & then all the heavy stuff, & in between songs those guys are up there bitching about life or whatever & talking about, We gotta kill such & such & Bush sucks & all this stuff & man, fuck off...whatever! Leave politics at home & leave everything else at home & just come & have a good time..put on a good show.

Rock N Roll Experience: I love the song "Giving up on Rock N Roll", it has so many references to classic rock/metal acts

Jacob: That's basically our influences all stuck in one song & everything, so I just put a little bit of everything, so we just put a bit of everything into it & the whole theme of the record, the whole giving up on Rock N Roll, the song is about like if you turn on the radio, you hear all this crap & people bitching & whining & it's a good thing really, because there's alot of bands out now that are bringing the whole rock thing back, but when you see the Hinder show, those guys open up with "Let it Rock" from Bon Jovi & they are doing it, we are doing it, Jet's doing it, the Darkness was doing it till the guy flaked out, Plunge...we are all like this new generation of '80's throwback..you can call it whatever you want, but the thing is, it's not the fucking '80's anymore, it's something else..it's just good music putting on a good show & leaving all the bullshit of the world...people are starved for that & that is why everynight of this tour is sold out...all the bands are putting on a show & kids are starved for that, because when we walk out onstage & some of the shit that we do that we ripped off from Steve Via or Cinderella or whatever, & people go yeahhh & think we invented shit & the sound & everything else, because it's alot of little kids, but hey, it's great..it opens up their minds & stuff

Rock N Roll Experience: I wanted to ask you...did you intentionally rip off some riffs on the new CD, because I hear Cinderella riffs hear & there.

Jacob: It's weird, because I never can say never, but I don't intentionally rip things off, it's just influences shining through that go from song to song & you can hear stuff...I'll listen to a song after we record it & go, wow, that kinda sounds like Faster Pussycat ha ha, but it's not intentional, I mean like the MTV theme song & the end of "Giving Up" is intentional, but...

Rock N Roll Experience: What is the first concert you ever saw?

Jacob: I don't know..the Beatle's back in '68

Rock N Roll Experience: Come on!

Jacob: Uhmm, the first show that I ever saw was with My Mom..I was a little kid...she was the biggest Whitesnake fan & it was WhiteSnake & Great White...it was awesome..I just remember being a little kid & when the strobes came on & the intro & they came running up from the stage & my Mom was like, there they are! I was like, that's the dude from MTV!

Rock N Roll Experience: Are you guys really brothers?

Jacob: No. We fucking hate each other, like if one of us were on fire, the other one wouldn't cross the street to piss on him to put him out...no...we are (brothers) & we all love each other

Rock N Roll Experience: What's your favorite song to play live?

Jacob: "Hangin Tough" by New Kids on the Block.

Rock N Roll Experience: You don't play that!

Jacob: I swear we do...it's fun, it makes me happy, I love it..ha ha...it really depends on the crowd..if the crowd sucks then we play New Kis on the Block, like honestly, like every crowd has been absolutley amazing, screaming their heads off, but when we got to New York, & Connecticut was the worst, like where even for Hinder, in between songs, people were just barely clapping & just standing there looking like that, so I had to break down songs to get the crowd to sing along & I'd be like "Woh oh!" & put the mic to the crowd & they'd just be like not saying anything, so I just stopped the song & we played New Kids & Backstreet Boys & all that shit the rest of the night & they didn't like rock, so they didn't have to listen to it.

I'd like to thank Jacob for taking time to talk to me..he was a very interesting interview & it was one of the funner ones I've done recently! After the interview, a few hours later, I got to see the band tear it up live & Lynam was clearly the highlight of the night..their 30 minute set was entertaining & fun & very memorable!

18Visions set was good, but the last song was the highlight..all the smoke & strobes made it like a viking death march onstage..very interesting!

I wasn't really there to cover Hinder, but when in Rome! Hinder were ok..they surprised me with a cover of Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" & they played a song that didn't make it to the cd..overall, they were ok & this night they were presented with platinum sales awards.

If you get a chance, make sure you see Lynam live..they are amazing!

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